Updated at 14.24
11-YEAR-OLD Armagh native Jay Beatty, who you may already be familiar with, has triumphed in the SPFL Goal of the Month competition for January.
Jay, who has Down’s Syndrome, was last month invited by Celtic to score in front of fans during half-time of their 2-0 win away to Hamilton.
He was subsequently named as one of the nominees for the SPFL’s Goal of the Month competition, with his old pal Georgios Samaras today announcing him as the winner.
He collected the award by a landslide 97% of the votes, and Hamilton went as far as announcing the result as 3-0 on Twitter.
Lifelong Celtic fan Jay is already an internet sensation, after footage of him passionately celebrating a goal by Samaras at last summer’s World Cup went viral.
Samaras was the man to give Jay, who hails from Neil Lennon’s home town of Lurgan, his good news when he announced the result via a video link on the SPFL’s Twitter account.
The Greece striker, who now plays for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, said: “Jay, my friend, me and you are the same now — scoring goals.
“I’m very happy to announce that you won the goal of the month.
“Well done pal, great job. I miss you and I love you.”
Jay’s father, Martin Beatty, thanked the thousands of football fans who voted for his goal.
He said: “Not many of us get to live our dreams and Jay is getting to live all our dreams.
“Thank you to everyone for making this possible — we are so grateful and proud.”
Additional reporting by AFP
